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New Day

Huffington Post's Coverage of Trump; Voters Speak; Beyonce's "Lemonade". Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 26, 2016 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:57] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Today's five Super Tuesday primaries are expected to be another big haul for Donald Trump. Trump has had a rocky relationship with the media during this race. Perhaps none more so than with "The Huffington Post," which early on moved Trump coverage to its entertainment section of the website. Just look at their lead story today with the headline, "National Nightmare," about Trump.

We want to bring in now editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington to talk about that, as well as her new book, "The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life One Night at a Time."

Arianna, great to have you here.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "HUFFINGTON POST": Great to be with you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We have a lot to cover. Let's start with Trump. He is expected to win big today. And, look, I mean your website has been overtly dismissive of Trump and not really wanting to take him seriously as a candidate. Is it time to start taking him seriously?

HUFFINGTON: Well, we started taking him seriously when he proposed that we ban 1.6 Muslims from this country and we -

CAMEROTA: That's when you moved him back to the news section?

HUFFINGTON: That's when we moved him to the news section, but a (INAUDIBLE), an editor's note under each of the Trump stories that reminds our readers of who he is. That he is a birther, that he incites violence, that he's a misogynist, a racist, a sexist, et cetera.

CAMEROTA: We do have that and I want to read it for everyone because at the end of every story about Trump here's what you write. "Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims, 1.6 billion members members of an entire religion from entering the U.S." Now, why not remind your viewers of past things about, say, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?

HUFFINGTON: There is absolutely nobody who is a birther, which is really like believing the earth is flat. There is absolutely nobody who has asked to ban an entire religion from the United States. And there is absolutely nobody who incites violence. These are the three things that make Donald Trump unqualified to be president. And we are very proud of our coverage, because as more and more people are really waking up to the danger of a Trump presidency, including within the Army, including within the CIA, this is where our story is this morning, we are really committed to continuing to educate our readers about who he is. It is their prerogative how they will vote, but it is our responsibility to keep the facts in front of them.

CAMEROTA: But the voters like him and he keeps winning. He wins -

HUFFINGTON: Some voters like him and some voters -

CAMEROTA: I mean he's - he's millions more - he has millions more than any of his rivals.

HUFFINGTON: He has the highest unfavorable of any candidate in the race, which is obviously, if you're a Republican, a big problem if you actually want to win the White House.

CAMEROTA: Well, it - I mean he is on track to win the nomination. Would you change the tenor of your coverage?

HUFFINGTON: No, our tenor will remain the same.

CAMEROTA: What if he becomes president?

HUFFINGTON: We will face that if it happens.

CAMEROTA: I mean, you know, in terms of journalism, if he were to become president, would you still take the tact of sort of pointing out what you think is wrong with him or would it become -

HUFFINGTON: We always do that, whoever is the president. And also he's very sleep deprived, if you want to segue to sleep. He brags about sleeping four or four and a half hours. And it shows, you know. His outburst of anger. His irritability. His false memories. All symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation.

CAMEROTA: Before we get to the sleep book, and I do want to and - right now, one more thing. About that front cover that you have today. You have this picture of what you think a war room would look like. Let's pull that up for a second because what are we seeing here? You see Chris Christie. You see some people that are his allies. You see a young, blonde woman in a sort of camo outfit. What is this? What are you depicting here?

HUFFINGTON: Well, it could be anybody in his entourage. There are a lot of beautiful blonde women. It could be you, Alisyn. I hope you're not going to be moving to a war room.

CAMEROTA: I do - I do not have a camo belly shirt that I wear. But, I mean, I - my point is that your point is that you're doing advocacy, I guess, journalism, or what would you call pointing things like this out in the tact that you're taking? HUFFINGTON: Oh, I think that actually what many in the media are

failing to do is a dereliction of duty. What we're doing is responsible journalism, pointing out the dangers of a Trump presidency while there is still time to avert it. This is our responsibility. We are proudly going to continue on the same tact. Donald Trump is both a buffoon and dangerous. So we're going to cover him in both ways.

[08:35:25] CAMEROTA: Let's talk about your book. This is what I've been so excited to talk to you about, "The Sleep Revolution," because anyone who wakes up at 3:00 a.m., as we all do as morning show hosts, needs the advice. You say that Americans are constantly sleep deprived. So what is the answer?

HUFFINGTON: So the answer is, first of all, to recognize that sleep is not optional. That getting between seven to nine hours, as I say in the book, based on all the latest science, unless you have a genetic mutation and you can get away with very little sleep, is nonnegotiable. That's what improves every aspects of our lives, our health, our productivity, our happiness. And once we recognize that, like in your case, you have to get up so early, try and get a nap as soon as you can.

CAMEROTA: That's good.

HUFFINGTON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I like that prescription. So how long should I be taking a nap for?

HUFFINGTON: Even if it's a 20, 30 minute nap, you will be restored. The key here is to recognize that if we are not feeling any joy in our lives, if we're just dragging ourselves through the motions, there is something wrong.

CAMEROTA: And, of course, you had that - your own experience with that when you actually keeled over from lack of sleep.

HUFFINGTON: Right. And that's why I wanted to write the book in order to help people. First of all, change their minds about sleep and then it will be easier to change our habits about sleep. And the book is full of tips and techniques, as you know, about how to change your habits. They key is to create a transition to sleep and take off all your devices out of your bedroom because we are addicted to our devices.

CAMEROTA: Blasphemy to people like Chris Cuomo who is tethered to his device. But that is the answer. That's just one of the many things that you say in "The Sleep Revolution." A great book. Thanks so much, Arianna Huffington, for being here.

HUFFINGTON: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you.

Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Ironically he's asleep now in the commercial break, but, Arianna -

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The sound of Camerota's voice does it every time.

PEREIRA: All right, so we've been talking all about the election and the media has been talking about all of these issues, but what do you think? What's going to matter when you go in that booth to vote. We're going to talk to our real voters. They're here about the issues. We're going to talk to them about the tone of this race, see what they think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:29] CUOMO: Real people, real choices, right?

CAMEROTA: Love it.

CUOMO: Let's do it right now.

CAMEROTA: Let's do it.

CUOMO: We have our panel of voters from Connecticut and Pennsylvania. What they think about the issues and the tone. Now, Jim -

CAMEROTA: Welcome, guys. Great to have you here all day. We've loved having this Greek chorus during the show.

CUOMO: Yes, they've been very good -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: Except not much chorusing, so let's get some more chorusing now.

Jim, Donald Trump supporter.

JIM CAMPBELL, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Tone. Tone is almost always referred to in the negative when it comes to your candidate. Do you believe it, that it is a fair assessment?

CAMPBELL: It's a strength. Donald Trump has been the strong candidate in this race. And it - it isn't always pretty, some of the words that he chooses, but he's addressing voters' real concerns. When he says in South Carolina and the media all jumped on him and said it was a big mistake, the Iraq War was a big, fat mistake.

CAMEROTA: Uh-huh.

CAMPBELL: I heard a Republican candidate for president acknowledging what my party hasn't come to grips with for 15 years. That's powerful. He's -

CAMEROTA: And - and when he says that John Kasich eats pancakes in a disgusting way, do you think that that's what voters are looking for? CAMPBELL: Well, I think Donald Trump also knows to have fun, and I think the voters see right through that. They get the entertainment side. But he communicates a strength of message. And even when it came to talking about Muslims and a ban on Muslims, what I heard was, this is a candidate who's saying, no one else is addressing the problem of radical Islam and I care about it and I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect this country. That's what I hear.

CUOMO: Sara is undecided, Republican, decided on that, libertarians by trade, but you decided to register as a Republican. I see you have a very good poker face there as Jim was talking. I can't tell whether you agree or you disagree. You said you were looking at Kasich, you were feeling Kasich, weren't sure. When Jim talks, does it land with you the right way?

SARA ZERVOS, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: Not really. I have to say that, you know -

CUOMO: Is it the way he looks, because that's big.

ZERVOS: No. No, no, no. We were -

CUOMO: No?

ZERVOS: WE were chatting in the back room and, you know, talking about how our backgrounds bring us to the views we have today. And it became very clear my Midwestern, Lutheran anti-conflict past comes to play here. And that really drives a lot of my libertarians issues, but also drives how I feel about Trump.

CAMEROTA: How do you feel?

ZERVOS: I don't like him too much. And, again, it's -

CUOMO: You don't like what he says? You -

ZERVOS: He's a very divisive person and, you know, again, creating disharmony is not what I think our president should be doing. And, you know, when I said I'm undecided for the future, is because I'm interested to see how these candidates evolve once they get through the primaries. We know they're antagonistic and they need to look different from everyone else now.

CAMEROTA: Do you all think that you've heard enough from the candidates on issues?

JOHN VALES, TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: No.

CAMEROTA: You - OK, who said no?

CUOMO: Hands.

VALES: I said no.

CAMEROTA: OK.

CUOMO: Who's - who's heard enough?

CAMEROTA: From - about issues. You think it's been a substantive issue based thing. Who says no?

VALES: I say no.

CAMEROTA: OK, so let me hear why.

CUOMO: Evenly divided.

VALES: OK.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I saw that.

VALES: When you're talking about Trump, Trump really hasn't talked about the issues. OK, I have nothing against Trump as, I mean, he's a strong person. I agree with you, he's strong. I believe - I'm a Cruz supporter because first I'm a conservative. And also as a Christian I believe faith has a lot to do -

CAMEROTA: OK.

VALES: With what you believe. They're called principles.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

VALES: OK, I don't see Trump talk about principles or what he stands for.

CAMEROTA: OK. What issues have you heard that you think have been really sort of soused (ph) out?

MARILYN ALVERIO, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: One of the most important issues that Hillary is talking about is equal pay for equal work. She's made that very clear. She's make - she's put it out there on the campaigns. She articulates the issues in a way that really gets to me, that tells me she gets me. She understands them. And she knows exactly where she stands on them. And she - she has made that very clear.

[08:45:09] CUOMO: Now, Yahne feels the same way about Bernie Sanders. That - and you saw him on the show today. Now, when you heard him addressing different things today, how do you think he now is different from Clinton in the most important way.

YAHNE NDGO, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: Well, I think that the - the - you know, we talk - we talk about issues and I think issues matter. But as it relates to Bernie Sanders, it's much more about also ideology and it's also about the driving force around like humanity. And - and that's what Bernie Sanders represents. So we know that on various issues, whatever those issues are, that he's going to be coming from a place of caring about all of the people and driving things to make things better for everyone and not - you know, not really about the politics of an issue, but about the basic human elements of those issues. And that's what he's shown over the course of his entire career.

CAMEROTA: Betty.

BETTY SPENCE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I'd like to go back to the issues important to women and - and jump off of what Marilyn was saying and also jump off of what was being said in the interview before. There is actually a movement going on related to Hillary that doesn't get a lot of attention, and that is women supporting Hillary. Very quietly, she's been responsible for the victories in the states where she's had major victories. And it's because of her support for closing the gender wage gap, it's because she wants paid family leave, and it's because she's working to stop and always has been working to stop violence on campus and domestic violence. And then, globally, she's working to stop violence. She's stopping human trafficking. She's paying attention to stopping rape as a weapon of war. So the global women's issues are motivating women around the country to vote for her.

CUOMO: You know, people often think that we do this for other voters so that they can see it, but I think it's actually a better service to the candidates because when they hear how sophisticated voters are in terms of what they're bringing to play -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: I think it will make them think twice.

CAMEROTA: And us. You always educate us. Panel, thanks so much for being here. It's been great to get your take on everything all morning.

PANEL: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

CUOMO: That was a Greek chorus.

PEREIRA: They said thank you in unison. That was amazing. Well done.

All right, ahead, some - well done, team, I like it. We're going to talk about Beyonce. We're going to talk about "Lemonade." Fans, critics, everyone is combing through this new album, this new visual album, trying to decode it. We're going to take our hand at it. Don't worry, we've got help. We're going to look at "Lemonade" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:08] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE (singing): This is your final warning. You know I give you (INAUDIBLE). If you try to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) again, gonna lose your wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: And with those words, Beyonce's surprise release of her hour long visual album "Lemonade" setting off a firestorm of reaction. Some speculating the lyrics referencing infidelity are about none other than her husband, rapper and music mogul Jay Z.

Here to discuss it all, cultural critic Michaela Angela Davis. And who is Becky with the good hair? I mean we can just go through so much of this on "Lemonade."

CUOMO: This is me googling (INAUDIBLE).

PEREIRA: I know you (INAUDIBLE).

But, OK, so here's the - here's the thing that is hard because my - there's one -

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURAL CRITIC: That might be a metaphor.

PEREIRA: Well, here's what my point was to you, cultural critic.

DAVIS: Sure.

PEREIRA: Is art just art? Could this - this could be left for interpretation. Beyonce saying, you make of it what you will.

DAVIS: Yes. I mean that - art in its - in its best self is doing what this is doing, right?

PEREIRA: Generating discussions.

DAVIS: It's guiding us, it gets us talking, it gets us thinking, it gets us feeling -

PEREIRA: Feeling.

DAVIS: Because I went through all the feelings.

PEREIRA: All the feelings.

DAVIS: On the album. But, you know, part of it is autobiographical, whether you're Picasso or Prince, or if you're a true artist or Nina Samone (ph), part of it biographical, right?

PEREIRA: Because some of this is - look, we can pull up some of the lyrics from some of the words. You guys, I mean, on one song, "pray you catch me. You can taste the dishonesty. It's all over your breath." Another song, "tonight I regret the night I put that ring on."

DAVIS: That's clarity. But I also like dust to dust - no, ashes to ashes, dust to side chicks. Like, I need that on a t-shirt, right?

PEREIRA: That's particular.

DAVIS: But it's also collaborative. Remember, she worked with dozens of really, really talented people, directors, writers, collaborators. So that -

CAMEROTA: Yes. So maybe it's all a publicity stunt.

DAVIS: No.

CAMEROTA: I mean it -

DAVIS: It's - it's -

CAMEROTA: In other words, maybe this isn't a window into what's happening with her personally and people think this is such a revelatory personal album.

DAVIS: Right.

CUOMO: That's a big trade, though.

CAMEROTA: Maybe this is a publicity stunt.

CUOMO: That - that's a big trade to make.

DAVIS: Yes, I don't know whether - I think what -

CUOMO: If it - if it's not real -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: That - this is a big trade just for popularity, of somebody who doesn't need any more popularity.

CAMEROTA: But if it is real -

CUOMO: Because her husband is in the cross hairs of a lot of people right now.

CAMEROTA: But if it is real, I mean -

DAVIS: (INAUDIBLE) he's not just in the cross hairs. He's in the - in the moment.

CUOMO: Right.

PEREIRA: He is.

DAVIS: He's in the film. So I think that it - I mean if you look at the tradition of making art, people put their lives in it. People talk about betrayal, fear, rage, whether you're Shakespeare or making a great opera, that is what artists do. So kind of reducing it to a publicity stunt.

CAMEROTA: But this feels different. I mean this isn't just - it feels to me like it's not just some of those (INAUDIBLE) issues. This is either about her life or she wants people to think it's about her life. There's no two ways about it.

DAVIS: Well, I - again, I think that artists put their art in their work. Some more explicit than others. More - some more narrative than others. So when you - when you're working out your life and your art, the intersections are there, right?

PEREIRA: That's true.

DAVIS: And particularly when you are in this culture, this now, where ever one's life is on Instagram or in digital media, like we're in a different environment in terms of how we communicate, right?

PEREIRA: What about the - we've been seeing some criticism leveled at her from various voices about the idea of invoking the mothers of Treyvon Martin, Eric Bell, Michael Brown -

DAVIS: The Michael Brown movement.

PEREIRA: Powerful.

DAVIS: Oh, my goodness.

PEREIRA: Powerful.

DAVIS: But, you know, I - I also think that this -

PEREIRA: Some saying you're capitalizing on it, sensationalizing it.

DAVIS: Right.

PEREIRA: Exploiting their pain.

DAVIS: I think part of it is, again, this is a tradition of particularly pop artists in a moment of upheaval or in civil rights, whether you are Stevie Wonder to Marvin Gaye, went from pop songs to "What's Going On." This is a - we're in a civil rights movement. We're in the Black Lives Matter movement. So if you are an young, open artist, you're going to use that -

PEREIRA: Sure.

DAVIS: As fuel to communicate. And we are in a visual era now, right? So whether you were, again, Nina Simone (ph) or Stevie Wonder or these kind of artists that just had music, now we have film, we have Instagram, we have Snap Chat in which to communicate ideas and integrate thought. And that's what this is doing. She's making us not forget those mothers' faces.

[08:55:11] PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: There's -

DAVIS: Not forget those boys. Not forget what we've been through.

CUOMO: There's value - there's value in that, there's no question. Very often when you meet those victims' families, they want you - they want their pain to matter to somebody.

DAVIS: That's right. That's right.

CUOMO: Now, interesting, segue, but not - not completely. The idea of talking about what's out there in a provocative way and putting it on your shoulders no matter what, that's all about the man that we just lost in Prince. You knew him so well. When you see this, I see what Beyonce is doing here is kind of like, you know, a junior version of what Prince did on such big ideas at a time when nobody was doing it. Fair?

DAVIS: Yes. And I made the comparison yesterday, Chris. But - and, you know, I got a little push back saying this was kind of her "Purple Rain," meaning it is a flash point where you put out a piece of epic work in which every -

CUOMO: That's a high bar to call it "Purple Rain."

DAVIS: Yes, but it's hers. No, not - not - it's not the same as "Purple Pain."

CUOMO: Oh. Oh, OK. OK.

DAVIS: But in the mean - when an artist does a piece of work that is so full and we all start to talk about it.

PEREIRA: Right.

DAVIS: This - she's young. She has a lot of time.

PEREIRA: She - this is part of a revolution arguably.

DAVIS: That's right.

PEREIRA: Michaela Angela Davis, always a pleasure. Sorry to cut you off.

DAVIS: Thank you.

PEREIRA: We've got to get to "Newsroom" with Carol Costello after a short break. That's it for NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:02] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lyin' Ted announced that he can't win by himself.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you don't want to see Donald Trump as the nominee, if you don't want to see Hillary Clinton as the next president, then I ask you to join us.